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Here's a couple of questions for Dr. Ed, Ted, and any other judges out there keeping up with the nationals. Several really good marking dogs handled in the beginning of the fifth series. It seems that as the day progressed the test either became easier because of shifting winds/lighting conditions or the handlers were able to see things to help there dogs pick up the marks clean. Will the judges go easier on the dogs who ran first this morning when it comes time for call backs. I realize that not all handles are created equal. How much does the work in the first four series affect cuts after the fifth? Also, can a dog with one handle that makes it through the tenth series beat out a dog that comes through the tenth series clean?

Field trial judging is not done on a curve, changing conditions are part of the luck of the draw which usually balance out over the career of a dog, so benefitting from better light or better scenting is not and cannot be factored into the dog's performance. The fact that a dog has not handled does not imply that it has always had good marks so it is certainly possible that a dog with superior marks throughout the trial and a nice handle on one mark could beat out a dog who had less stellar marking throughout the trial. There are many historical examples of dogs with a handle winning when there were finishers who had not handled but whose overall work was not superior.